Brother Horse
by Paragon Dragon
Summary: Slightly AU. Tibbs slash. Tony POV. Tony is reflecting on the relationship between him, the man he loves and a horse.


**Written for CJ's _50 Things Tony Associates With Gibbs_ prompt table at NFA  
**

**Prompts: #4 hands, #6 smell, #22 horses, #35 smile, #49 head smack**

**Disclaimer: Don't own a thing. (except the horse)**

I stand by the fence of the paddock, leaning against it as I watch Him interact with the huge creature he calls his friend. The bond between man and beast is displayed for anyone to see. I have never seen him more relaxed than the times he is with his horse. They are not just friends. They are brothers. The skewbald gelding understands him better than anyone else ever could, including me, and I am the one his heart belongs to.

For some reason it didn't come as a surprise at all when He told me in the beginning of our relationship that he had a horse. Sometimes I used to catch a whiff of a smell I didn't recognize on him, a warm, sweet smell that wasn't like any other smell I'd ever smelled before. When I realized where that smell came from, it made me curious. I asked him if I could come along sometime and he let me.

I still remember the first time I met Fool. I had expected him to be a dumb animal, but he turned out to be anything but. There's an intelligence in his dark, almost black eyes that I suspect is rare for horses in general. He must have felt that I was a bit intimidated by him, because he kept his distant at first, curiously watching me from where he stood by His side. To me he was a giant, towering over me with his more than six feet over the withers. I didn't doubt for a second that he was able to kill me with a single blow from one of his powerful legs, but His relaxed demeanor was enough to calm me down. I reached out my hand, palm down, and Fool didn't hesitate to press his soft muzzle to the back of my fingers, his breath warm against my skin. I looked up into his eyes and I knew that he had accepted me.

I smile when Fool reaches down and puts his muzzle against His cheek, whinnying softly into his ear. He puts his hands on Fool's neck and I can see the gelding relax even more under his touch. My smile grow wider when I think about the effect his touch has on me. His amazing hands always makes me forget about everything except us, his fingers telling me things words never can. There's no better feeling than that of his hands on my hot, sensitive skin, his fingertips tracing every line of my body, his lips and tongue following the path his fingers make. And later, when we move as one, falling over the edge together, I know that I will belong to him forever, and he to me.

Reluctantly I push my thoughts away when I hear Fool whinny again, louder and more demanding this time. He wants me to join them. I oblige and climb over the fence, my feet barely touching the ground again before Fool is by my side, greeting me in his own way by nibbling at my neck. I put my hand under his chin and look into his intelligent eyes, a look of understanding passing between us. Before I met Fool I never thought that you could befriend an animal like you do another person. How wrong I was proved to be. It didn't take long before I considered him one of my closest friends. We would never share the same kind of bond as the one He and Fool have, but instead we formed our own bond, and for that I am happy. He has become my brother, too.

Together we walk back to Him and the second we reach him he presses his lips to mine, claiming my mouth in a soft kiss that turns deeper by the second. His arms encircles me, holding me to him closely. I relax into his embrace and bury my fingers into his hair, letting him win our tongues' battle for dominance. In that moment I know where my place is, and there's nowhere else on Earth I'd rather be.

Fool breaks us apart minutes later by forcing his massive head in between our bodies, efficiently separating us. I laugh and ruffle Fool's mane between his ears and then I look up see the warm smile on His face. It's the smile I love the most, the one that made me fall for him in the first place, the one he gave me when I confessed my love for him for the first time. No one can smile like Him. It is always genuine, he never smiles unless he has a good reason to do it, and when he does he can melt ice.

His eyes meet mine over Fool's long, muscular neck and I return the smile. It's amazing how relaxed he has become just by coming here and spending some time with his horse. The deep lines furrows on his brow are now smoothed out and there are now longer any steel in his eyes, all thanks to Fool. I wrap my arms around the huge gelding's head, letting him now how grateful I am of him being able to give Him what he needs the most.

Fool pulls his head away an gives me a playful look before throwing his head back and neigh happily. He spins around and with his tail flowing behind him, he sets off in a fast gallop, the setting sun making the chestnut patches on his otherwise white body shining like gold. Round and round he runs, bucking and bounding like a young colt. I step up behind Him and snake my arms around his body, leaning my chin against his shoulder as we watch the horse enjoying himself. I bury my nose against His neck and breathe in slowly, smelling the scents that are so much him that I can't imagine him without them anymore. First there is the smell of horse and sweat and sun warm skin and Him, but underneath that I smell the drink he loves so much and is addicted to, mixed with a whiff of wood. Those are the smells that calms me at night when we lay tangled together, my head resting on his chest with my ear over his heart, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

"He wants to run", He says then and I can hear the yearning in his voice.

"Isn't that what he is doing now?" I ask, even though I already know that that isn't what he means. I don't even flinch when his hand makes impact with the back of my head. It is very seldom he does that to me anymore and this time it didn't even hurt. It was just a light rebuke and nothing more. He has never given me anything more than that for months now. There hasn't been any need to. He became the steady rock in my life I have searched for for so long and he helped me settle down, reassured me that he won't go anywhere. He will stay by my side forever.

Fool stops at the far end of the paddock, a dark silhouette against the sun which is about to disappear behind the horizon behind him. He looks over at us for a long time before shaking his mane and comes walking towards us. He presses his forehead to His chest and sighs deeply. I let go of Him and step aside, letting them have a moment alone. None of them knows when they will meet again the next time and it is with great reluctance He pulls the halter over Fools head. It is time to go home.

We leave the paddock and take Fool up to the stable. He puts him in his stall and gives him one last, friendly rub on the nose before we leave. He sighs deeply and I can see the little smirk on his lips that is so typical for him. I want to ask what he is thinking about but decide to refrain. If he wants to tell me he will. Eventually. He always does.

"Feeling better now?" I ask and carefully entwine our fingers together, rubbing the back of his hand with my thumb.

"Yeah", he says and smiles at me. "Never been better."

**Finished**


End file.
